


Neither Flesh nor Fleshless

by que_sera



Series: The Still Point of the Turning World [2]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2012-05-18
Packaged: 2017-11-05 14:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/que_sera/pseuds/que_sera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor, raised in Jotunheim as brother to the crown prince, tries to make sense of the strangeness of the Aesir. Or: deleted scenes from The Still Point of the Turning World.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I had thought to make the Asgardian delegation to Jotunheim last several days, leaving plenty of time for such delightful confrontations as the one below. Here, Loki, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three do diplomacy badly. This will make very little sense without having read the Big Bang.

"Magic is the coward's weapon," said the Lady Sif. "We of Asgard do not use such techniques. They are shameful."  
  
Thor laughed. The Aesir looked at him, offended, and Thor realized that they were serious. He laughed again, this time incredulously. "But surely you cannot believe this?"  
  
"How could it be otherwise? Magic is an attack made in the dark, where an opponent cannot see it. It is not trained for openly. It can accomplish things no man can naturally. How can it be anything but dishonorable?"  
  
Thor looked at the other warriors, but they were all nodding, as if the Lady were not speaking nonsense. "But magic is a weapon, just like your sword. Its users study and practice just as much as swordsmen. It is by no means the easier path. My brother Loki practices publicly, and longer hours than many of the guards. How can you say that a skill he has trained himself up in with great strength is dishonorable?"  
  
Sif glared at him. "If a person trains himself to be a great thief, it might take great skill, but that does not make it honorable."  
  
"Ah, but Asgard certainly has uses for thieves, does it not?" Thor looked up in welcome as Loki's smooth voice drifted over them all. Loki caught his eye and smirked, and Thor’s delight quickly took on a smug edge. These warriors could never win an argument with his brother.  
  
"You say also that magic is dishonorable because it allows men to act unnaturally. But none of you were born with the ability to wield a sword. My magic, of course, was born with me, and it grew with me. My skill is earned, yes, but it is, as you might say, entirely natural."  
  
"Just because one can learn a skill does not mean one should," Volstagg growled.   
  
"Fascinating." Loki's green eyes flashed in a way that made Thor shift with anticipation. "Here in Jotunheim we value strength. It no longer surprises me that the Allfather has come to treat with Laufey, if he voluntarily throws away half his weapons."  
  
“If you’re so confident, why don’t you face us?” Fandral caressed the hilt of his sword, drawing it a fraction from its sheath.  
  
“Gladly,” Thor smiled dangerously at him. “It will be a pleasure to show you the true meaning of my scars.”  
  
“Us, you say,” Loki said. He titled his head, considering. “The four of you, against the two of us?” He waited a beat, then continued, “Sounds like Thor and I might actually not be bored.”  
  
“Name your time, then!” Hogun demanded.  
  
“Tomorrow morning at the second hour past sunrise, at the practice courts,” Loki responded. He stood regally and gestured to Thor, who rose automatically. “I’m sure it will be very educational for us both.” He turned to sweep out of the room, and Thor completed Loki’s dramatic exit by baring his teeth in his most vicious smile before following closely on Loki’s heels.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor's point of view of his first meeting with Loki. This scene just did not end up fitting the tone of the larger fic, and I quickly abandoned my attempt to see through tiny Thor's eyes - but not before writing his first impressions of the monster baby of Jotunheim.

Thor opened his eyes to endless blue.

He tried to scramble to his feet, but the ground was slippery and would not hold him steady. He cried out when his hands touched the floor, snatching them back as it seemed to burn his fingers. He had never felt anything so cold. 

With his hands wrapped tight around his body, Thor looked around him. The room was small, and the floors, walls, and ceiling all looked the same - dark blue and cold, without a single crack to mar the surface. He could see no door.

Thor bit his lip as tears sprung to his eyes. Warriors didn’t cry. Warriors were brave. 

He wanted Father.

After a long time of sitting in the dark, he jumped as he heard something moving. Suddenly, there was an opening to his left - a door where no door had existed before. He pushed himself back to the wall.

A huge frost giant, bigger even than the one Thor had seen outside the palace, stepped through the door. Without speaking, the man reached down to grab him.

Thor yelled, then tried to run past the man through the open doorway. The frost giant caught him by the back of his tunic. “Stop running,” the voice rumbled. “You won’t like it if I have to catch you.” Thor froze, suddenly remembering the way the Jotun’s touch had felt before. 

“Come with me.” The frost giant did not give him much choice, as he lifted Thor by the tunic and carried him out. 

Thor screamed. “Heimdall! Heimdall!” Father had told him that he could never be lost, because Hemidall would find him. “Heimdall!”

The Jotun did not listen. Instead, he stepped through another door, bowing to the frost giant who stood just inside. 

“Put him over there,” the man gestured, and his carrier dropped him to the floor in front of a little bed. Thor cried out when he caught himself with his bare hands on the black ice.

He looked up, eyes welling with tears no matter what he tried, then stopped. He stared.

The little bed looked like his old one, before he became big enough to have a real bed. In the bed was a baby - except the baby had the same blue skin as the frost giants behind him.

Awed, Thor took a step closer.

Frost giants were big and scary monsters. Everyone knew that. 

Thor leaned in close over the bed, and the tiny monster opened his eyes. They were blood red. Thor held his breath, and then the monster laughed. 

Thor jumped at the sound, and so missed the hand coming towards him until it was too late to dodge. Then the monster touched him.

It didn’t hurt.

Thor stared down at the monster baby, who was still, unbelievably, laughing. Then he saw his hands, which were slowly turning just as blue as the baby below him.

The baby was turning him into a monster!

Thor jumped back, panicked, and stared at his hands until the blue had faded away. 

Behind him, the big monster was laughing. Thor shivered with cold, then found he could not stop.


End file.
